Drowning
by Starkerplx
Summary: Peter is suicidal and doesn't want Tony to find out, but things don't always go to plan...
1. Chapter 1

It was late at night and peter was sat on the edge of his favourite bridge, he let his legs dangle over and his toes were pointed at the dark water below, he enjoyed coming here since it was located just on the outskirts of the city and not many people came through the area. His mask was laid across his lap, he had removed it to avoid Karen (the AI that Tony Stark had built into his suit) sending out any alerts which she frequently did when she deemed Peter to be in distress. He didn't want to bother him anymore with his stupid teenage problems, all he ever wanted was to prove to Mr. Stark that he could do stuff on his own... yet time after time Karen would always end up calling him to come save his weakling ass. He didn't fit in at school either, Flash was bullying him everyday and it was starting to take its toll on him. He sighed as he rubbed his arm which was covered in bruises from the abuse he had taken earlier that day at school, they would soon heal though thanks to his super-healing ability. He could never be a true avenger either, no one trusted him alone and he almost always needed back-up from Mr. Stark when it was more than a couple of low class thieves.

Hot tears began to stream down his face, he scrunched up his mask and threw it into the water beneath him. He felt a tinge of guilt in his stomach, after all Mr. Stark had made him this suit and he'd probably put a lot of time and effort into it, but he didn't feel worthy of it at all, he didn't deserve it. Suddenly there was a loud beeping and vibrating noise next to him, it was the phone specifically given to him by Mr. Stark to be used in emergencies, his heart skipped a beat. Does he know? He didn't really want to answer right now, but if he didn't answer then Mr. Stark would probably come check up on him, which he REALLY didn't want. He fumbled to answer the call with his shaking hands and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Hey Mr. Stark! How's it going?" he answered in his best cheery voice.

"Hey Pete. I got a notification from Karen that your mask is currently going for a swim and I wanted to make sure if everything is alright? I don't need to come over do I?" Mr. Stark sounded worried.

Peter gulped and started panicking, he had to go through with his plan before Mr. Stark found out and came to stop him.

"I'm fine! It's just windy up here! Got to go! Bye!" He blurted out a lame excuse and hung up before Mr. Stark could reply. He hoped that he hadn't notice his voice cracking.

In his panic he tossed the phone into the water, not that it mattered since he knew Mr. Stark had put a tracker into his suit, but it was too late to disable it now, he had to act fast.

_Am I really going to do this?_ He knew there were people who still cared about him; Aunt May, Ned and maybe even Mr. Stark. _But isn't it selfish of them to keep me here for their own sake? When I'm in so much pain, when I'm so empty inside and nothing will fill the void? I'm just so tired..._ He had to do it now or he never would. He shakily stood up on the edge of the bridge and looked up, the night sky was cloudless and filled with stars. I couldn't have asked for a better view.

He stepped forwards.

The wind was whipping all around him as he fell and he'd never felt so free in his entire life, of course he had experienced something slightly similar when he was out web-shooting on patrol, however this was different in a way he couldn't describe. It was as if all the weight had been lifted from his shoulders and nothing mattered anymore, absolutely nothing. It didn't matter that he was being bullied at school, that he couldn't be an avenger, what would it matter if he was dead?

A moment later, the feeling was ripped away from him when he crashed into the freezing river. The pain of hitting the surface from such a great height had rippled through his entire body and had forced out his last breath. He choked as he involuntarily gasped from the shock of the fall and inhaled the murky water, his lungs started to feel like they were on fire. He tried to embrace the pain that devoured his whole body, It was so overwhelming that he could barely stay conscious, yet he still found himself clawing at the water attempting to get to the surface. He couldn't think, his senses were overloaded, all he could feel was the harsh cold embracing his skin and his broken body screaming at him.

Everything turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony was working late at night in his workshop, tinkering on some experimental web shooters for Peter to try out on his next lab visit, when he suddenly got an alarming notification from Karen.

**"Sir, I'd like to inform you that the Spiderman mask is currently 3m underwater. I am also picking up an elevated heart rate from the suit and I have not had contact with Mr. Peter Parker in over 30 minutes."**

He almost started having a panic attack hearing this, the kid hadn't called to ask for help recently but he had assumed he was just being a typical teenager, was he taking on too much to handle without him there? _Why would his mask be underwater? Is he in a fight with someone? Is he hurt? _Thoughts rushed through his mind.

"Karen put me through to the stark phone I provided him with" He couldn't jump to conclusions just yet, he hoped to god that Peter had kept the phone he gave him. After a few seconds of hearing the dialing tone he had almost expected it to go through to voice-mail, when it suddenly answered.

"Hey Mr. Stark! How's it going?"

He sighed a breath of relief hearing the cheerful voice coming through the speaker. _The kiddo probably dropped his mask whilst swinging around on patrol, no need to panic._

"Hey Pete. I got a notification from Karen that your mask is currently going for a swim and I wanted to make sure if everything is alright? I don't need to come over do I?" He joked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine! It's just windy up here! Got to go! Bye!"

**"Signal lost, phone unavailable" **Karen announced.

Tony was definitely starting to panic now. _The kid didn't sound like himself, it sounded like he had been crying, he gave a weak excuse and why did the call suddenly disconnect? Was he being held hostage?_ He quickly suited up. He couldn't ignore the feeling that something was wrong with Peter and he had to find out what.

"Karen send his last known location and coordinates to my suit, also alert me of any changes"

He rushed to the location provided to him by Karen using full thrusters, he made a quick mental note to improve the efficiency of the thrusters later on. His stomach churned as he approached the location, which was a deep river below a bridge just on the outskirts of the city completely void of any human life.

**"Sir! His heartbeat is in distress and falling below 20bps, he has lost consciousness and is no longer taking in oxygen"** Karen sounded worried now.

His mind went dizzy. Peter couldn't be in the water right? **Fuck, fuck, fuck! Peter! No!**

He dove into the water at full speed and quickly spotted a blur of red and blue sinking to the bottom of the river. He quickly wrapped the lifeless body in his arms and rushed to get him to the surface, not knowing how long he had been under, hoping to god his boy wasn't dead.

Tony laid Peter's body down on the muddy shore, his skin was deathly pale and his lips turning blue, he couldn't handle the sight of his innocent intern, his practically-almost son, looking so small and vulnerable "Get this thing off me!" He yelled angrily, he wanted his suit off as fast as possible to help Peter. He rushed out of his suit the second it opened and practically fell onto the wet ground beside the boy, not giving a fuck about ruining his expensive clothing, he swiftly pressed two fingers into Peter's delicate neck. He felt his entire world collapse around him when he couldn't find a pulse and there was no sign of him breathing either. "Stay with me Peter!"

He began CPR immediately, raising Peter's chin and pinching the boy's nose shut, he fixed his mouth against his cold lips and pushed all the oxygen he had into Peter's lungs, after 2 breaths he still wasn't breathing on his own. He placed his hands on the center of the boy's chest and started compressions, he felt a couple of ribs crack beneath his hands and felt horrible for causing him harm, even though the kid had super-healing abilities, it would still take him some time to recover. _Come on Peter, I need you. You're too young to die_

After a couple more breaths he suddenly heard gurgling beneath him. He quickly rolled Peter onto his side and smacked his back to encourage him. The boy burst out coughing and expelled a large amount of water.

"Mm-r. Stark?" Peter faintly whimpered.

Tony started crying in relief and grabbed Peter, holding him tightly to his chest and running his hand through Peter's brown locks.

"Oh thank god, I thought I lost you, I thought I lost you..." He kept repeating whilst holding the boy close to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter unexpectedly found himself laying on what felt like solid ground, he wasn't sure how long he had been there. He was struggling to breathe and unable to move, he felt like he had been hit by a truck. Without warning someone quickly helped him to roll onto his side and hit his back as he coughed up all the water he had taken into his lungs.

"Mm-r. Stark?" He managed to whimper out. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he knew it could be only one person.

All of a sudden he heard crying coming from the man beside him and he was pulled into a warm embrace, it felt familiar and safe. He inhaled the scent of motor-oil and sweat mixed with expensive cologne, he knew this scent all to well from working late nights in the lab, it had to be him.

"Oh thank god, I thought I lost you, I thought I lost you..."

Guilt overcame him hearing those words, he had caused Mr. Stark problems again... Tears began to well up in his eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry Mr. Stark... I always... b-b-bother... y-you"

"You don't bother me at all Peter. But "bother" me as much as you like, because I'd rather have you alive in my arms right now, than dead in that river." Mr. Stark spoke gently but also had a serious tone to his voice

Mr. Stark was being so nice... _I don't deserve his kindness._ Suddenly he realized just how cold and tired he was... he snuggled tighter against the older man's chest, but still couldn't stop shivering. Everything was starting to fade away again...

"P...t..er?"

He felt himself being laid on the ground again, he tried to protest and clung onto Mr. Stark's T-shirt, he didn't want to be pulled away from his only source of warmth.

"..eed to p..t my su..t on bu..d..y"

Realizing was just trying to put on the iron-man suit, he loosened his grip. A few seconds later he felt himself being lifted into the metal arms of the suit. He couldn't stay conscious any longer, he relaxed into the arms holding him and let the darkness take him again.

Peter slowly began to wake up, he had no idea how long he had been "out" or what happened. His head felt groggy and his body was burning hot. The room he was in was pitch black, with the exception of a street light peeking through the curtain illuminating part of the wall. He assumed he must be in the Avenger's tower, considering this was definitely not his bedroom, based on the expensive decor. As his mind became clearer he noticed that Mr. Stark was lying half across the bed and holding his hand. _What happened? I remember being wet... cold... my memory is too fuzzy._

"Mr. Stark? What's going on?"


	4. Chapter 4

Mr. Stark jolted awake hearing Peter's voice. Although the room was dark Peter could see the expression on his face, a mixture of relief and concern. His hair was disgruntled and it looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"Hey kiddo, I'm glad you're finally awake. Tell me, how are you feeling?"

"Hot..." He rasped out, Peter hadn't realized how sore his throat was.

The older man reached across the bed and gently placed his hand onto his forehead. Mr. Stark's hand was refreshingly cold against his burning skin, Peter let out a small whimper and felt his cheeks grow warm, he leaned into his touch hoping he wouldn't notice. _Am I here because I am sick?_

"Shit. You're burning up. FRIDAY tell me his current temperature"

"Mr. Peter Parker's temperature is currently 102.2 F"

"Damn, I should have realized this would happen. Give me a moment kid"

_What does he mean he "should have realized this was going to happen?"_ He watched as Mr. Stark went into the dimly lit en-suite bathroom and rummaged around in the cabinets. A few minutes later he came back with a wet cloth, a glass of water and some NyQuil. He must have noticed that Peter was too weak to move, as he set everything down onto the nearby nightstand and helped him to sit up. Mr. Stark carefully measured out 2 spoonfuls of NyQuil and held the spoon to Peter's lips, he blushed at the gesture. _why is he being so kind to me?_ After he was happy that Peter had taken all the medicine he held the glass of water to his lips, it hurt to swallow but it turned out he was super thirsty. Once he had finished the glass of water he helped Peter to lay down again and laid the wet cloth onto his forehead.

"I know your super metabolism will burn through that medicine in no time, but hopefully it will give you some relief for now. Now answer me honestly... Do you remember anything that happened Peter?"

"I think I remember being cold and wet...? but that's it Mr. Stark... Did something happen?" He was confused as hell about what was going on.

"Don't worry about it right now, I'll explain everything when you are feeling better, just try to get some rest okay kiddo? I'll be right here if you need anything."

Peter was too tired to argue and decided sleep didn't sound like a bad idea. As he closed his eyes he heard the older man sit in the armchair next to his bed.

"Mr. Stark... can you sleep next to me?" _What am I saying! this is so embarrassing..._ But he hated the idea of his mentor being forced to sleep in an armchair, plus he looked like he hadn't slept well in days.

"Sure kid, just let me know if you want me to leave" He climbed into the bed next to Peter, letting out a satisfying sigh as his head hit the pillow.

Huh? he had expected him to say no, but it was surprisingly easy?

"Oh, uhm, Thanks. Good Night Mr. Stark" _ugh he probably thinks I'm a weirdo now, I'll blame it on my fever._

"Night Kid, now get some rest"


End file.
